Tag: speaking

There’s been a movement around #payToSpeak conferences on Twitter and elsewhere, that is conferences where the speaker essentially ends up paying to speak there (travel expenses, time put into the talk, time not working when being at the conference etc.). I think that speakers should be paid, or they at least shouldn’t be going negative in budget to speak at a conference. Here’s my experience:

Modern communication seems limitless. For low to no cost, I can communicate with almost anyone in the world, real time, using many different avenues. But with the convenience gained through these technological communication advances, we are losing things too. We are losing context, tone, intention, and presence

Introversion versus extroversion has been a hot topic over the past few years, especially since the release of Quiet by Susan Cain. In IT it is no different. Everyone knows the stereotype of the “typical developer” – the one who only wants to sit in their cube and code by him or herself all day. But it’s just that, a stereotype, based on some facts but not true for all. So how are we more inclusive of that person in Agile where collaboration, co-location, and teamwork are valued over solitude? Secondly, how do we encourage introverts to be leaders which is historically and stereotypical a role for extroverts?

I recently had the amazing opportunity to travel to Lviv, Ukraine to speak at the Lviv IT Arena conference. Speaking internationally in a country I had never traveled to and experiencing the discomfort of not understanding the languages and culture made for a very memorable trip. I met some wonderful people and formed some hopefully lasting networking and collaboration relationships.

Coming up on Agile2015 is hitting me right in the feels. This will be my fourth Agile Alliance conference, my fourth job in as many years (actually fifth), my second time presenting at an Agile Alliance conference, my second time presenting in Washington D.C., and my first time really feeling like I have no idea what I’m doing.